Symposium: This is not a protest song! Art, civic engagement and networking

A cooperation of the doctoral program „Art and the public sphere“ and the program area „Contemporary Arts & Cultural Production"

In English language

Lectures: March 21, 9:30-14:30 (open to all)Workshops: March 21, 14:30-16:30 and March 22, 9:30-16:30 (Please register due to limited space: Roswitha Gabriel: roswitha.gabriel@sbg.ac.at).

This symposium covers questions of art, political engagement and activism by focusing on practical working methods.

Throughout history, art has been assigned a range of roles. Aside from the beautification of life, distraction or representation, the acquisition and transfer of knowledge and experiences are still seen as highly important. Taking up social-political themes in the context of arts has a long tradition: critique of social conditions is continuously - explicitly or hidden - expressed via diverse forms of expression and presentation. But what is the actual potential of art to be effective?

The presentations with subsequent workshops give the participants the opportunity to explore political strategies in contemporary art, centred on those forms of art whose protagonists aim for social change and civic engagement.